diff --git a/daemon/src/lib.rs b/daemon/src/lib.rs
index 9f507221..c57d91dc 100644
--- a/daemon/src/lib.rs
+++ b/daemon/src/lib.rs
@@ -11,12 +11,23 @@ use redox_scheme::Socket;
 use redox_scheme::scheme::{SchemeAsync, SchemeSync};
 
 unsafe fn get_fd(var: &str) -> RawFd {
-    let fd: RawFd = std::env::var(var).unwrap().parse().unwrap();
+    let fd: RawFd = match std::env::var(var)
+        .map_err(|e| eprintln!("daemon: env var {var} not set: {e}"))
+        .ok()
+        .and_then(|val| {
+            val.parse()
+                .map_err(|e| eprintln!("daemon: failed to parse {var} as fd: {e}"))
+                .ok()
+        }) {
+        Some(fd) => fd,
+        None => return -1,
+    };
     if unsafe { libc::fcntl(fd, libc::F_SETFD, libc::FD_CLOEXEC) } == -1 {
-        panic!(
+        eprintln!(
             "daemon: failed to set CLOEXEC flag for {var} fd: {}",
             io::Error::last_os_error()
         );
+        return -1;
     }
     fd
 }
@@ -51,7 +62,11 @@ impl Daemon {
 
     /// Notify the process that the daemon is ready to accept requests.
     pub fn ready(mut self) {
-        self.write_pipe.write_all(&[0]).unwrap();
+        if let Err(err) = self.write_pipe.write_all(&[0]) {
+            if err.kind() != io::ErrorKind::BrokenPipe {
+                eprintln!("daemon::ready write failed: {err}");
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     /// Executes `Command` as a child process.